Here’s a new Twilight Show episode, a little more upbeat than previous offerings. This song has quite a long history. When I was teaching English in Cairo in the 70s, some friends – Rodney Blakeston and Andy Harper – and I decided to write some songs to teach points of English grammar, usage and vocabulary. … Read more
Last week I launched my new single and video, Crow. Many thanks to those of you who bought it or commented. Crow has taken a long time to fly. For anyone interested in the process, here are a few snapshots from its childhood. Cale experiment 001 (2012) I had a few experiments on the go … Read more
Here’s a song I’d forgotten about, perhaps rightly so. This dates from the first Glasgow Songwriting Festival I attended in 2017, in Govanhill Baths. Findlay Napier, who organised it, recently asked participants to offer any examples of songs they wrote at the Festival. I was at a session led by country singer Jim Hunter, whose … Read more
For the third year running I attended the Glasgow Songwriting Festival last weekend. It followed the same format as previous years – you stay in a group of about eight and spend a two hour session with each of the four tutors over the Saturday and Sunday – but unlike previous years in the unique … Read more
This is a followup to my post on the Edinburgh Songwriters Showcase. My friend Tom Warrington wrote with his reminiscences of a similar venture in Glasgow: I really enjoyed your email a few weeks ago flagging up the post on the Edinburgh Songwriters Showcase. You’re very possibly aware that something vaguely similar took root in … Read more
This is the story of a collaborative songwriting effort over the last six months or so between Gerry Callaghan and myself. The result was a three-song album -an EP if you will – which we’re selling to benefit SAMH, the Scottish Association for Mental Health. Four Little Leaves – the beginning Early in 2018 I … Read more